We are the champions. The Cyclones women's tennis team reclaimed the NJCAA Region 4 championship after a solid performance over two days on their home courts (Oct. 11-12).
In the final standings, Moraine Valley took first with 23 points followed by McHenry County College with 18 and Elgin Community College with 12.5.
"McHenry is always great to play, but it's good we took that crown back from them," said Head Coach Matt Marusarz.
The Cyclones saw several singles champions, including No. 3 Allyson English as she battled Illinois Valley Community College (6-2, 6-2), No. 4 Maya Morris over McHenry in a big comeback (3-6, 6-1, 10-8), No. 5 Zaina Daghash in a quick rout of Illinois Valley (6-0, 6-2), and No. 6 Gabriela Dabrowski as she took down the player from Elgin (6-1, 6-2). Breanne Schultz narrowly lost her No. 1 singles championship match (6-3, 3-6, 10-3) for a second place finish.
"The first day was fun to see the women adjust to everything. We played a lot of good teams. At the end of the day, we did on-the-spot math to see we were up 15-12 over McHenry. If they won all three doubles matches, they would've taken first. But our teams were too good," Marusarz said.
Moraine Valley also had four champions in doubles play: English/Morris at No. 2 with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Illinois Valley and No. 3 Daghash/Dabrowski in a 6-3, 6-2 defeat of McHenry. At No. 1 doubles, Schultz and Johann Laran took second overall after falling to McHenry (6-1, 1-2). The second set saw Schultz try to play through illness and tough it out for her team but forfeited a few points in.
"Bre was upset to call it, but Johan and I told her not to sacrifice her health and that we were still going to Texas [for nationals]," Marusarz said.
With this victory, the Cyclones have earned a slot to compete at the NJCAA Division I Women's Tennis Championship, May 3-7, 2025, in Tyler, Texas.
"It was a perfect season, and I said at the beginning to get those plane tickets to Texas because we're ready to go. I'm very proud of how they all did," Marusarz noted. "They're excited and can't wait to go."
This marks the first time Marusarz has ended the regular season with an undefeated record, but is his second time as head coach that his team earned a region championship. As with that last team, he promised the players he would get a new tattoo of their choosing if they were champs. After the Cyclones compete at nationals, Marusarz will official retire from coaching to pursue his education and career full time.
Throughout the fall and winter, the players will take private tennis lessons, lift weights and heal from any injuries before they start back up as a team in March.
SINGLES
No. 1- Breanne Schultz, 2nd place
No. 2- Johann Laran, 4th place
No. 3- Allyson English, champion
No. 4- Maya Morris, champion
No. 5- Zaina Daghash, champion
No. 6- Gabriela Dabrowski, champion
DOUBLES
No. 1- Schultz/Laran, 2nd place
No. 2- English/Morris, champions
No. 3- Daghash/Dabrowski, champions
